Category Archives: Culture & Tradition

“Because we are convinced that culture can cross borders, this site is created for those of you who want to understand better our culture and language” Have you ever heard a Catalan idiom? Has someone ever tried to translate it to you? If we try to translate a sentence literally, we will come out with… View Article

A town surrounded by legends and mysteries couldn’t let us know easily the real origin of its name. But this is not an exception, as many of the towns we have been studying and analysing have different stories and interpretations regarding its origin and legend. Having in mind the different phonetic alterations that this town’s… View Article

Have you ever heard a Catalan wishing to another “molta merda” Which was your first thought? That we were nuts? If you translate this idiom into English, you will come out with “lots of shit”, which might seem as a the rudest think to wish to anyone. But in Catalunya “molta merda” is a popular expression,… View Article

If a few days ago we introduced the legend of Sant Narcís, in Girona, today we have to go to Barcelona to discover another legend. We have trusted the people from Cultruta, who organize routes along Barcelona and Catalunya, to help us discover some of the city’s secrets and hidden spots. They have immediately awaken our curiosity by asking a… View Article

If you know something about the Catalan culture and traditions you will surely have already heard about some of the miracles or any of the legends known about Sant Narcís and the city of Girona. Being today the festivity of Sant Narcís, when Girona celebrates its main local festivity, we want to dig into the origin of some of the most… View Article

“Because we are convinced that culture can cross borders, this site is created for those of you who want to understand better our culture and language” On a special week dedicated to the devil and to witches, when it is just a week to Halloween and with so many fairs, festivities and events planned all over… View Article

“Because we are convinced that culture can cross borders, this site is created for those of you who want to understand better our culture and language” Have you ever been dumped? Or have you ever dumped someone? How did it go? Was it face to face, by text message? You might be asking what has a… View Article

Unfortunately, many of us have eventually used a barbarism. For those of you who didn’t really know its meaning, it’s called a barbarism when a a word or expression from a language is incorrectly used while speaking another language. It may not be common in English, but all other languages borrow words from English, as a mean to describe… View Article

Unfortunately, many of us have eventually used a barbarism. For those of you who didn’t really know its meaning, it’s called a barbarism when a a word or expression from a language is incorrectly used while speaking another language. It may not be common in English, but all other languages borrow words from English, as a mean to describe… View Article

The history of el Masnou is a history of comings and goings. Like other places in the Maresme county, the Iberians created the first precedents, before the Romans arrived and installed in the area, attracted by the fertility of the soil. Romans started to organize the whole coastal area, dividing them into agrarian centres named “vil·les”. But… View Article

“Because we are convinced that culture can cross borders, this site is created for those of you who want to understand better our culture and language” Have you ever heard an idiom that means something is too difficult or dangerous? Each area and surely each town and even each family, has its own way to… View Article

We love to discover the stories and legends that surrounds Catalunya and the origins of many towns. Mythology, witches, demons, … have become part of the history of many towns thanks to the collective imagination and its consolidation in tales and fables. Although we have spend the whole week talking about trains, routes, the railway museum,… View Article

“Because we are convinced that culture can cross borders, this site is created for those of you who want to understand better our culture and language” In many languages, people use fruits and vegetables in idioms or sayings. And Catalan is not an exception. Sometimes, fruits are used to refer to a part of the… View Article

There are thousand of activities to do these days, to commemorate the Tricentenari. Are you lost among all the options? Not sure what to do? Don’t worry!. Remember that most of the activities will have continuity. Most of the exhibitions will be open until the end of September or even the end of the year. There will be historic… View Article

Along this 2014, many museums and exhibition rooms have organized several expositions related with the Tricentenari, and some other museums will join them, organizing activities for these few days. Although Cardona is the the main city during the Diada (Catalan Day), is Barcelona the city that offers most cultural options and some of the most… View Article

We know it’s still only Wednesday and that most of us are still working and not on holidays, but we couldn’t help but publishing some of the best celebrations scheduled all along the Catalan coast for today. Beyond religious beliefs, there are many activities and traditional celebrations planed to commemorate the “sailors festivities”. This festivity,… View Article

Our recommended route for this week is a short and easy route, where you will be able to enjoy, not only the gently shaped mountains that form the coastline relief, but also the beach, culture, leisure facilities, … The “Four Chapels Route” is a really achievable route recommended for the whole family. Its 5 kilometres can… View Article

We have been in Pineda de Mar this last week, to see the rehearsals of a brand new “colla castellera” (human tower building group). This might seem like an easy to explain experience, but we were greatly surprised with what we found, so here I am, the proud spectator of a group willing to arrive… View Article

One of the most vivid expressions of the popular Catalan culture and tradition. With over two hundred years of history, the “Castellers” originated in Valencia when, at the end of the old “Ball dels Valencians”, linked with religious processions, a human construction rose to externalize their gratitude to the Virgin. With the time, the towers… View Article

This weekend you have no excuse to enjoy the wide variety of cultural activities scheduled all over the country. Museums, monuments and cultural foundations have joined the celebrations organized for the “International Museum Day” on Sunday 18th May, offering different activities for the whole family throughout the weekend. And you can even start with the… View Article